Hide and Seek
by Rounin
Summary: Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia visit Vale and decide to stay for a few days...All goes well until a robin interferes with two certain adepts. Enjoy and review!Oneshot.


Hello! While I'm still updating my other story, I came up with a little humor fic...my first attempt at writing a little humor. Your comments, criticism, and suggestions are welcome. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Golden Sun!

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Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia visited Vale after meeting with Lady Layana in Kalay. The four had heard from a passing traveler that the broken bridge near Vault was fixed again so Isaac and company had decided to drop by Vale to visit some old friends.

In Vale, Isaac and Garet went to see their families and introduce Mia and Ivan to them. Afterwards, the four explored a cave in the back of Kraden's cottage. It was blocked by a boulder, but Garet now had the proper Psynergy to lift it out of their way and gain access to it.

When night had fallen, Isaac and company came back from the cave with a Jupiter djinn named Kite and the Halt Gem; a jewel that grants them the power to stop moving objects. Ivan had been put in charge of keeping it safe since the other three members had their packs full.

The following morning, Isaac and the others decided to stay in Vale for a few days since Isaac's mother, Dora, had fallen ill and Garet wanted to spend some time with his family. Mia had agreed to help take care of Dora with Isaac while Garet said that he and Ivan would fix the roof of Isaac's house. This is where the madness begins…

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"I'll be going down to the plaza with Kay. I'm going to pick up some food from the inn keeper for my mom."

"Ok. I'll take care of your mother until you return."

"Where's Garet and Ivan? They're not out on the roof."

"The two went to gather some straw to patch up the holes."

"Ok then. I'll see you two later."

Isaac had said goodbye to Mia and Dora and went out the door to join Kay who was standing outside talking to her brother.

"Garet, make sure you actually _fix_ Isaac's house!" Kay scolded.

Garet dropped the bundle of straw near the ladder. "Don't worry sis. I may be clumsy, but I'm not stupid! We'll get this roof fixed in no time!"

"Don't worry about him, Kay." Ivan said. "I'm going to be watching him to see that he doesn't destroy this house!"

Garet threw a glance at his friend. "Whose side are you on?"

"Let's go Kay. The inn keeper's waiting for me. See you later you two." Isaac said.

"Ok. See you!" Kay hollered waving a hand before turning around. Garet and Ivan watched as Isaac and Kay went down a flight of steps before they went back to their own work.

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An hour later, Garet and Ivan sat on the roof taking a break. The two had successfully patched up the holes with straw. Garet watched as his friend took out the Halt Gem that they had found yesterday and studied it.

Ivan was studying the gem very closely. It almost looked like an actual gem because of its appearance, but what made it different was the glint of gold in the middle of the gem.

As he was studying it, the gem was accidentally directed towards the sunlight causing the light to reflect off of it and hitting Garet in the face.

"Ivan! That thing's blindin' me! Keep it away from the sunlight!" Garet said rubbing his eyes.

Ivan abruptly placed the Halt Gem by his side. "Oh, I'm sorry Garet. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just don't put that thing under sunlight!" Garet said opening his eyes and looking at the Halt Gem at Ivan's side.

"Hey, let me see that thing! Throw it over here!" the Mars adept requested.

Ivan took one look at the Halt Gem before throwing it over to Garet which was the biggest mistake he made in his life…

As the Halt Gem was in midair, it gave a faint glint when the sunlight struck it. A robin had been flying overhead when it spotted the shiny object and swooped down to grab it with its beak.

Garet and Ivan's jaws dropped as they saw the robin catch the item and land on the roof. Ivan tore his gaze and tried to capture the bird in hopes of retrieving the gem back, but it was no use. The robin sidestepped causing the Jupiter adept to lose his balance and fall down from the roof. Luckily, a huge pile of straw broke his fall.

Garet clenched his fist and rolled up his sleeves. "Give that Halt Gem back this instant you pesky bird or I'm gonna cook you for dinner with my fire Psynergy!"

The robin standing at the edge of the roof gave him a muffled chirp. Garet lunged at the bird, but missed when it jumped off and flew away. The Mars adept was not as lucky as Ivan when he slipped off of the roof and crashed into some bushes nearby.

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Mia was inside the house preparing some porridge when she heard some stomping of feet coming from the roof followed by two noises.

Dora sat up on her bed. "Mia, will you go see what happened outside?"

Mia nodded pouring porridge into a bowl. "Garet's probably being foolish again!"

Isaac's mother chuckled. "Garet's always being silly."

Mia gave Dora the food before going outside to see what was happening. She noticed a purple lump on a pile of straw nearby.

"Ivan, what in Mercury happened here!?"

He sat up on the straw rubbing his back. "Umm…I don't think you will believe me, but a bird stole our Halt Gem."

"What!?" Mia yelled wide-eyed.

Garet emerged from some bushes nearby rubbing his neck. "Hehe…You see, I asked Ivan to toss me the Halt Gem and a robin came out of nowhere and grabbed it with his beak. We tried to get it, but it flew off."

"It flew away, but we'll get it back." Ivan replied.

"How will we retrieve it? We don't even know where its nest is." Garet said.

"Yesterday when we were looking around the village, I noticed a nest perched on a cliff near the waterfall. That's where the robin might live."

Mia's face lightened up. "Of course! I saw it too! You two better hurry up and get the Halt Gem back before Isaac gets back. I'm going to stay here and look after Dora."

Garet and Ivan nodded as Mia went back into the house. Then the two boys headed towards the cliffs by the waterfall to find the robin's nest.

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"You owe me one, Ivan!" Garet grunted as he climbed the cliff with Ivan on his back. He sighed in relief when they spotted the nest on a small cliff above them. A robin was sleeping in it.

Garet grabbed on to the ledge of the small cliff and hauled himself and Ivan up. The two found the robin sleeping on top of the Halt Gem.

"Remind me to wash the Halt Gem when we get back to your house Garet." Ivan sighed.

"Yeah, I will." Garet muttered as he tried to jerk the jewel from the robin. It awoke and saw Garet's hands underneath it.The bird chirpped madly and started pecking at Garet's face.

"Ah! Get him off of me!" Garet wailed as he shielded his face from the bird's sharp beak causing him to let go of the ledge he was holding on to for support.

"Garet! We're going to fall!" Ivan yelled.

"Well get this stupid bird off of me first!"

Ivan grabbed the flailing bird and tried to keep it still while Garet regained his balance grabbing a hold of the two protruding rocks.

"Whew! That was close!" Garet said as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

Ivan used Mind Read to calm the thrashing robin down before returning it to its nest where it sat on the Halt Gem again.

"What did you find out?" Garet asked.

"The robin says that if we want our item back, we must trade it something of equal value." Ivan explained.

"We don't have anything of equal value!" Garet retorted. The robin chirped several times to his response.

Ivan mind read the bird again. "She saw someone wearing a bright pink scarf the other day. If we can bring her that scarf, she will give us our Halt Gem."

"Fine. It's a deal!" Garet said as he started to climb down the cliff. When the two reached the bottom, Ivan hopped off of Garet's back.

"Where are we going to find a bright pink scarf?" Ivan said folding his arms.

Garet pondered over the question for a minute. He pounded his fist on his hand and smiled.

"Kay! Yesterday, she kept braggin' about some stupid scarf that she bought from the plaza."

Ivan shook his head. "You wouldn't…"

"Oh yes I would! We need that Halt Gem back!" Garet said dragging Ivan along with him.

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"Has Kay returned?" Garet asked.

His father shook his head. "Not yet. She and Isaac are still at the plaza."

"Ok thanks!" Garet hollered as he and Ivan rushed up the stairs to the bedroom.

Garet's father was puzzled. "What's up with those two? They seem to be in a rush."

The mother was in the kitchen baking cookies. "Boys these days…"

Garet's grandfather snorted. "You tell me!"

Upstairs in the hallway, Garet and Ivan made sure that no one was around before entering Kay's room. The two found the item lying on the bed.

Garet snatched the scarf. "This is perfect!"

Ivan looked around the room. "Your sister must really love pink."

Garet made a face at the sight of the scarf and the room before tugging Ivan's sleeve. Ivan followed as they reached the doorway, but a small figure stood blocking their exit.

"What are you doing with Kay's scarf, brother?" Aaron asked giving Garet a suspicious look.

Garet and Ivan looked at each other for help as they racked their brains for some kind of excuse.

"Uh…Aaron…Your sister requested us to bring her scarf to…uh…the plaza!" Garet stated giving Aaron a silly grin.

His little brother snorted. "Nice try Garet, but Kay hasn't returned since this morning. If she needed the scarf, then she would have taken it with her instead of coming back for it later. What are you really up to?"

"Aaron, we saw Kay and Isaac this morning and noticed that she wasn't wearing the scarf so we assumed that she had forgotten it. Garet's just bringing it over to her so she doesn't have to come back here to get it. We're headed to the plaza to get some healing supplies for Mia." Ivan explained.

Aaron stepped aside and allowed the two to pass through. "I understand. Carry on."

Garet and Ivan immediately ran downstairs and out of the house...

"Mia must really need her healer's supplies." Aaron said.

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"Thanks Ivan. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't make up that excuse!" Garet said. He and Ivan were climbing the cliff again to make the trade with the robin.

"No problem. I owe you one for letting me ride on your back while you climb this cliff." Ivan said.

When they had reached the robin's nest, Garet presented the pink scarf to the robin. The bird picked up the Halt Gem with its beak and muffled a chirp again. Ivan mind read it.

"She says that the scarf you hold is the one. Place it on her nest" Ivan instructed.

"_Sis is really going to kill me when she finds out that her scarf's missing!" _Garet thought as he placed the pink fabric in the nest. The robin placed the Halt Gem on the edge of the cliff. She placed a foot near it attempting to push the gem off of the cliff.

"Ivan, what's that bird about to do?" Garet asked wide-eyed.

Before Ivan could answer his question, the robin pushed the Halt Gem with its tiny feet sending it into the rushing waterfall next to them.

"Stupid bird! You broke our promise!" Garet yelled at the bird as he attempted to smack the robin. The bird dodged his blows and pecked at Garet's flailing hands.

"Ouch!" Garet yelled letting go of the cliff. He and Ivan fell backwards and into the rushing waterfall behind them plummeting down into the river below...

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Garet and Ivan survived the fall as they landed into the deep water. They emerged from the water happy to be able to breathe again.

"Where's the Halt Gem?" Garet asked peering into the crystal blue water. There was no sign of the gem underwater. Where else would have it gone?

"Um, Garet? Did you know that you had turtles in Vale?" Ivan asked looking behind the waterfall.

"Ivan! Now's not the time to ask stupid questions!" Garet yelled as he continued to search the water.

"I'm serious! Look behind the waterfall!" Ivan said.

"Huh?"

Garet looked behind the waterfall. Sure enough, there was a turtle standing on a rock and something shiny was in its mouth…

"The Halt Gem!" they cried.

Garet and Ivan swam towards it. The turtle saw the two figures approaching it and quickly retreated in its shell. When Garet and Ivan had climbed on the rock, all they saw was a green shell sitting on the wet rock.

"How do you make a turtle come out? We need that Halt Gem!" Garet asked picking up the shell and taking a peek inside.

Ivan shrugged. Garet sighed and motioned for Ivan to follow him tucking the shell under one arm. The two jumped off of the rock and went to a patch of grass. Garet placed the shell in front of him and cracked his fingers.

"What are you doing?" Ivan asked.

Garet conjured a small flame in his palm. "I'm going to toast the turtle's shell until it comes out!"

"Garet! What on Weyard are you doing?" another voice called out. Garet and Ivan turned around and found Isaac and Kay standing a few meters behind them. Isaac had a bag full of food and Kay was carrying a pot of tulips and a bag filled with gardening items.

"Isaac! We were trying to experiment on this turtle. Uh…we want to know if turtles really come out if you burn its shell." Garet explained.

"You what? Don't be so cruel to animals, Garet!" Kay yelled placing the pot and the supplies down and running towards the turtle shell.

Ivan sighed and approached Isaac to tell him what was really going on…

"Garet!" Isaac fumed.

"I'm in big trouble now." Garet muttered anxiously.

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Later that day, Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Kay went to Isaac's house to try and figure out how to get the turtle to pop out without harming it. Mia and Ivan sat nearby; Ivan was telling Mia everything that happened to the Halt Gem. It took several hours before Kay found a safer method by placing some vegetables in front of the shell until the turtle came out to eat it.

At dinner, Isaac and company were over at Garet's house enjoying the food cooked by Garet's mother. As they ate, Isaac, Mia, and Ivan watched as Garet anxiously ate his plate of fried chicken and mashed potatoes.

"Has anybody seen my scarf?" Kay yelled from the living room as she raised some cushions on the couch to see if her scarf was there.

"Don't you have it, Kay? I thought Garet gave it to you while he was at the plaza with Ivan today." Aaron asked.

Kay shook her head. "Garet never gave me the scarf. Wait a minute…" She glared at Garet.

Garet stood up and backed up towards the door. "Uh oh…"

Aaron pointed at Ivan. "You lied!"

Ivan stood up as well. "I'm sorry! It was all Garet's idea!"

"Hey, don't blame it all on me you traitor!" Garet yelled.

Kay pushed down the cushions on the sofa and stomped towards the two. "I demand a full explanation. Where is my scarf?"

"Run!" the two yelled as they bolted out of the house with Kay hard on their heels.

"Don't mind them." Garet's mother said. "They'll be back as soon as things settle down."

Isaac and Mia smiled and continued to enjoy their food while Kay was outside playing "hide-and-seek" with Garet and Ivan demanding to know what happened to the scarf.

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End file.
